As the work on Fourth Street in front of my house proceeded yesterday morning I walked out to make sure the base of my brick steps survived intact. When the driver of the front end loader, which had just taken a scoop out of my hillside, hopped out of the loader looking for a zip tie I noticed a gushing wind. There went my gas line. He tied it off and I was glad I hadn’t been smoking. As part of the ritual the Fire Department sent down an engine. Pretty soon the muddy street was full of folks waiting for the nuisance to be dealt with. It was and Comfort Systems sent someone in to relight all our gas appliances.
I asked where most gas lines entered and was told they were all over the map…..or not on the map. Slicing through gas lines is very common and I was reminded about the advice to call before you dig. I could easily have sent a spade through the line if I’d been planting flowers. A friend from Comfort Systems told me he had already had a dozen or more snapped lines since the work on Fourth Street had begun.
Then I went out lit dropping. Just under 30,000 steps according to my cell phone’s pedometer. I began covering Duluth Heights. The folks there haven’t forgotten Central High. I got a few high fives.
Today you will find me at Lester Park’s Rendezvous. At a luncheon I intended recently Rosie Loeffler-Kemp explained to the organizer of the Chester Bowl Fall Fest that she was one of the Rendezvous founders. I’m grateful to her for today’s venue. It should be sunny.
